Blu took a substantial hit last month when security firm Kryptowire discovered a pre-installed service on several of the company's phones was sending users' data to a server in China. The offending service was part of the OTA update module provided by third-party company Adups. Blu has now promised to get rid of the Adups software after previously neutering it.

A couple of weeks ago, Gmail v6.11 began its rollout with a relatively small but divisive change to the way quotes are handled in replies. It turns out that there was a much bigger and more important change that went completely unnoticed. Google just posted a changelog on the Play Store to point out that you can now paste content into Gmail and all of the formatting and images will remain intact. Version 6.11 is still current, but there have been a couple of minor bug fix releases since then, so there's also a download link at the bottom if you don't already have the absolute latest update.

There are more than a few racing games available on Android, but more technical racing simulators are a bit hard to come by. That's probably because mobile controls and hardware limitations don't appeal to developers (or players) hungry for painstaking accuracy. But today we get a new racing sim, from Codemasters no less - the developer of such franchises as GRID and Dirt, among many others. F1 2016, originally released on the PC and consoles in August, now has a full Android version on the Play Store for $10.

Google released the Google On app last year alongside the OnHub, but the OnHub is yesterday's news. The hot new router in town is Google WiFi. Devices are going to be hitting virtual and physical store shelves in a few days, and the On Hub app is being updated to prepare. It's no longer called "Google On," though. It's Google WiFi now.

Though the open-world crafting phenomenon doesn't really have an end, any more than a big box of assorted LEGOs has some final way to assemble it, Minecraft does have an endgame. The original PC release was expanded with a "final" level and boss in 2012, but the Microsoft-branded Windows 10 version and the Pocket Edition on Android haven't had access to it so far. According to Mojang's developer blog, The End is nigh, and it has a gameplay trailer.

Telltale Games has brought its unique brand of storytelling to various franchises over the years including The Walking Dead and Minecraft. The next big release on Telltale's schedule is none other than Guardians of the Galaxy. You'll be able to get your hands on the game in 2017, which is appropriate timing.

AirDroid is one of several services that allows Android users to send and receive text messages, as well as transfer files and see notifications, from their computer. According to the Play Store, AirDroid has somewhere between 10 and 50 million installs (not counting anyone directly installing the APK from the AirDroid website). Mobile security company Zimperium recently released details of several major security vulnerabilities in AirDroid, allowing attackers on the same network to access user information and even execute code on a user's phone.

Android Auto users were given a pleasant surprise when v6.9 of the Google app enabled the 'OK Google' activation phrase while driving (for many people). We haven't spotted any other visible changes with this release, but there are some interesting things buried in the apk that are also worth checking out. It looks like the search bar's autocomplete is about to gain some new tricks and there's a new (or at least improved) native image viewer in development that appears to have custom support for some of Google's custom search results.

In its quest to make running a small business easier, PayPal has revealed its latest app called PayPal Business. It offers a lot of features that entrepreneurs will find helpful when trying to stay on top of their accounts while mobile.

The Huawei Mate 9 was the first phone from the Chinese behemoth to come with Android Nougat — in the form of EMUI 5. Now it has announced which of its other phones will be updated to the latest version of Android and EMUI. This will come in the first quarter of 2017.